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Book Review: Betraying Season by Marissa Doyle

Penelope Leland has come to Ireland to study magic and prove to herself that she is as good a witch as her twin sister, Persy. But when the dashing Niall Keating begins to court her, Pen can’t help being distracted from her studies. Little does Pen know, Niall is acting upon orders from his sorceress mother. And although it starts as a sham, Niall actually falls deeply in love with Pen, and she with him. Even if he halts his mother’s evil plan, will Pen be able to forgive him for trying to seduce her into a plot?

I didn’t like Betraying Season at all. It’s the second book in the Leland Sisters series and the only one I will probably ever read. Yes I know, I started in the middle but I really didn’t mean too. I picked up this book in a thrift store having no idea it was part of a series. But each book seems to be more or less a stand alone so you don’t really need the others to know what’s going on.

So anyway on to why didn’t I like.

First of all I found the MC kind of stupid and her love interest had the personality of stale cereal. It all made for a frankly unconvincing romance that made me cringe to read. Here’s a girl who’s supposed to be seriously studying magic and she falls head-over-heels for a guy she’s known for like half a minute. A really bland guy that just so happens to have golden hair and statuesque features, so there’s that I guess.

I would understand if the guy was intriguing or shared her interests, but as far as she knows he doesn’t have a clue magic exists. And the “charming” things he says are so over the top I can’t believe she couldn’t see through them. No, instead she swoons like a delicate flower and then complains that the men in her magic studies don’t take her seriously.

And why does the love interest fall for her so quickly? He is deceiving her for an nefarious plot his mother concocts and the MC falls for it hook line and sinker. What, he finds her naivete enchanting or something? Then there’s this whole “I must seduce her so that I can save her” nonsense that is not only insulting but just plain eeewwwwww….

The relationship between these two is so shallow I don’t think you could drown in it if you tried.

As for the magic in the book I’m confused why it requires so much study when it seems to be more of a practiced thing that you do instinctively. There seems to be no complexity to how magic works in this world so it fell flat for me. Also, if magic is supposed to be a secret why do so many people know about it? It’s like, no we can’t talk about magic because the general population will be too shocked and yet most everyone seems to already know it exists.

I couldn’t even finish the book. I was so frustrated I just admitted defeat and bailed. Over 300 pages of that is too much to bear.